


Beach Vacation

by Kelticmoon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 04:05:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17073146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelticmoon/pseuds/Kelticmoon
Summary: The Paladins go to the beach.  Pidge makes a friend.Takes place before they find the Altean at the end of Season 7.





	1. Chapter 1

Pidge sighs as she walks along the boardwalk overlooking the ocean in a simple green tank top and board shorts, her light brown hair blowing in the breeze coming off the water.

She, Allura, Shiro, Keith, Lance, and Hunk had all been given a mandatory leave for a week by Iverson. Apparently liberating the world from an alien invasion and nearly dying in the process was reason enough to give them a short vacation. Not that they hadn’t needed it which is why they all accepted, albeit reluctantly for a certain white haired workaholic who’s name starts with S.

It was Lance who suggested the beach and there happen to be a decent sized beach nearby with a pier as well as several hotels and beach houses they could rent. They found a simple three bedroom beach house down by the water and split the cost between Pidge, Lance, Hunk, Shiro, and Keith since Allura still didn’t quite have a grasp of how earth money worked just yet.  They quickly unpacked and went down to the beach. Pidge had taken Allura shopping for clothes so she wouldn’t stand out so much (that and Pidge had outgrown all of her old clothes.

It’d been great for the first two days. They’d all hung out at the beach, gone to the pier, and just generally hung out. But then Hunk discovered that Shay’s family had decided to vacation nearby as well and Hunk instantly wanted to include her since she’d never seen an ocean before. Pidge was cool with it at first, but as time wore on, Pidge quickly started to feel like the odd one out because they kept finding activities that involved splitting into pairs for things, both mundane and romantic. Finally, the second night they’d gone to see a band playing in the pavilion by the water. They danced together at first, but when the band started playing slow songs, Hunk asked Shay if she wanted to slow dance after seeing a few other people migrate out. Lance then asked Allura and finally Shiro and Keith just looked at each other before migrating out onto the “dance floor” without a word.

Pidge sits on the seawall by the pavilion watching her friends. After 15 minutes of nonstop slow songs however, it got old fast.

“Well this just got depressing…” Pidge comments to herself before hopping off the wall and going for a walk along the beach, dusting off her shorts as she went.

That’s how she ended up walking around the boardwalk.

As Pidge walks past the fairway games area of the pier, she hears the sound of a basketball being dribbled. She looks over at the basketball game and sees a girl with the straightest, dark hair under a blue backward baseball cap standing in front of it dribbling like she’s going to try to make a basket. There are two more balls waiting on the counter. Curious, Pidge walks over to watch.

The girl throws the ball so that it hits the backboard. It should have gone in, but the ball just bounces off the rim. When the girl tries two more times with the same result (and a frustrated player), Pidge looks closer at the hoop itself.

“Arc the ball more…” she tells the girl as she adjusts her glasses.

The girl looks at Pidge and Pidge is struck by how blue her eyes are. Like the sky on a cloudless day.

“You talkin’ to me?” she asks with an accent.

Pidge ignores the question and looks at the girl.

“Arc the ball when you throw it,” Pidge repeats. “Using the backboard isn’t going to work. Arc it straight in.” Pidge pulls some money out of her pocket and buy three more shots. “Here, I’ll show you.”

The girl shrugs and steps aside. All three of Pidge’s shots go straight in.

“Hey! How’d you know that would work?” the girl asks as they’re given a giant green frog plush under one arm.

“The game is rigged,” Pidge explains as she takes the frog.

“It is not!” the attendant says indignantly.

Pidge ignores him and continues.

“When your shots didn’t make it in, I noticed the hoop is smaller than the average basketball hoop and there’s a small metal lip sticking out just under the rim to keep shots from going in if they hit the backboard,” Pidge explains. “That’s how they scam customers. They care more about making money than they do about you winning a prize. So I calculated the trajectory needed to score while avoiding the metal lip.”

“You did all that in ya head?” the girl asks admiringly. “You’re pretty smart, girl! What’s your name?”

“Katie… but my friends all call me Pidge.”

“Margaret Mary, but everyone who isn’t a doctor or my mom calls me Sky,” the girl introduces herself with a smile. “You sixteen, too?”

Pidge nods as she looks at the girl. She’s tall with skin almost as dark as Lance’s, wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers.

“How long you here for?” Sky asks.

“Five more days. That’s when our leave ends,” Pidge tells her. “Though we could be called back at any time in the event of an emergency.”

“‘Called back?’ ‘Leave?’ You military?” Sky asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Garrison,” Pidge confirms.

“I thought you looked familiar!” Sky says snapping her fingers. “You’re with that one group that pilots them big cat things right?”

“They’re lions and we’re called Paladins,” Pidge confirms.

“You’re the green one, right?”

Pidge nods.

Before they could say anything they hear a woman calling out, “Margaret Mary! Time to come home!”

“That’d be my mom,” Sky tells Pidge with an eye roll before yelling back. “Coming!”

“How long are you staying for?” Pidge asks as Sky starts to walk away.

“Same as you,” Sky says as she turns around and walks backward. “Guess I’ll be seeing you around. Later, Pidge.”

“Later,” Pidge smiles to herself as she walks back to the rental house with her frog in hand.

~

The next time Pidge sees her is the following night. Pidge and her friends had gone to see another band playing on the beach and like before they start playing nothing but slow songs. Pidge is just about to get up when someone sits beside her.

“Hey, fancy meeting you here,” Sky says.

“Oh thank God! I was about to leave!” Pidge lets out a breath.

“Third wheeling?” Sky guesses sympathetically.

“More like seventh wheeling,” Pidge says dryly.

“That bad?” Sky asks with a chuckle.

“It’s not that I’m not happy for my friends; I am,” Pidge comments. “Especially Shiro and Keith because yeesh! But it gets kinda awkward after a while.”

“Which one’s Shiro and Keith?” Sky asks.

“The guy with the floating arm of glowiness and the guy with the giant blue wolf,” Pidge points out.

“You mean the ones who look like an old married couple?” Sky asks wryly.

Pidge laughs.

“That’s them.”

“Who’s the big guy dancing with what I’m assuming is an alien?” Sky asks.

“That’s Hunk and she’s a Balmeran. Her name is Shay,” Pidge continues.

“Who’s the alien cutie dancing with tall and lanky?” Sky asks.

Pidge smiles.

“That’s Allura, and the guy is Lance.”

“Not gonna lie, your friends look cute together. Especially Lance and Allura,” Sky points out.

“Oh yeah, they’re quiznaking adorable…” Pidge mutters as she rolls her eyes.

“You don’t think so?” Sky asks.

“No, they totally are!” Pidge admits.

Sky looks at Pidge for a second before following her line of sight. She sees Pidge staring at Lance and Allura and figures it out.

“The guy or the girl?” Sky asks simply.

“Guy…” Pidge admits.

“Damn! You’ve got some good taste, he's fine as hell!” Sky says. “In a gangly sort of way. So, why are you over here?” Sky asks.

“Because he likes _her_ ,” Pidge explains.

“You sound like you don’t support them,” Sky points out.

“On the contrary, I do,” Pidge admits honestly. “As long as she makes him happy, I can live with that.”

“I hear a ‘but’ coming,” Sky interjects.

“But I also know that while I can say Lance genuinely has feelings for Allura, I can’t honestly say the same about Allura. He’s a rebound.” Pidge says.

“Damn Girl, you didn’t tell me you were savage!” Sky tells her with a laugh. “Sure you’re not just jealous?”

“It’s not even a jealousy thing,” Pidge says defensively. “Not entirely, anyway. Look, Allura’s the first and only female friend I’ve ever made and I say this with love; but everyone knew she had feelings for Lotor, even Lance knew. When we learned he was just using her to get access to Altean alchemy, it understandably broke her heart.  I support them and genuinely hope she makes him happy, it’s just… it’s a little… concerning… how soon she jumped into this relationship with Lance…”

“Yeah, that sounds like a rebound,” Sky agrees.

“I will say this though,” Pidge adds with a tone of admiration. “Allura may look dainty, but she hurled Lotor’s lying ass like a Frisbee when he tried to cozy up to her when he was revealed.”

“Good to know the girl can handle herself,” Sky laughs.

“Enough about me though,” Pidge says. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m third wheeling my brother and Miss-Too-Much-Makeup over there,” she says indicating the tall, Spanish guy dancing with a peroxide blonde.

“I’m guessing you don’t like her?” Pidge asks as they watch them.

“She’s a bitch, and not in the good way,” Sky says. “She’s nasty, petty, and pitches a fit if he so much as looks at me. I really hope they don’t last but it’s been lasting longer than I’d like.” Sky digs her phone out of her pocket and shows Pidge. “Dumb bitch sent me this shit last week!”

Pidge looks at the chat where the girl uses Sky’s brother’s phone to ask who Sky is and to tell her that her brother is off limits, even after Sky tells her she’s his sister.

“What the quiznak did I just read?!” Pidge asks indignantly.

“Right?!”

“Did you tell your brother?” Pidge asks.

“I tried but she won’t let me even talk to him,” Sky says.

“I’m sorry, but that crap wouldn’t fly with me,” Pidge says. “The last girl who pulled this shit when my brother brought her home ended up thinking her house was haunted because I hacked into its computer.”

Sky laughs.

“I would pay to see that!”

Pidge gets an idea then and pulls up a connection with her holo-glove.

“What are you doing?” Sky asks.

“Using your phone to hack hers,” Pidge says.

“You can do that?!”

From the dance floor, Keith is dancing with his head resting on Shiro’s shoulder. He spots something out of the corner of his eye and perks up when he sees Pidge talking to a Spanish girl in a baseball cap. She has her glove on and it looks like she’s hacking something.

“Hey, who’s that talking to Pidge?” Keith asks Shiro.

Shiro looks over and sees her.

“Looks like Pidge made a friend,” Shiro says calmly.

“Wonder what they’re hacking?” Keith asks.

“Knowing Pidge, it could be anything from a phone to a government satellite,” Shiro guesses in amusement.

Pidge has successfully hacked the phone and now she’s scrolling through the girlfriend’s things.

“Holy smokes, who are these guys she’s kissing?” Pidge asks as they scroll through her pictures. “I think only one of them is your brother.”

“I’ve seen some of them before, but she claims they’re her brothers or cousins or some shit,” Sky says.

“I can see her tongue!” Pidge says in disgust.

“Never said I believed her lying ass,” Sky comments. “If only I could show these to my brother. Let him know she’s a cheating ho… she won’t let be talk to him long enough.”

Pidge snaps her fingers.

“I’ve got it!”

Quickly, she opens the girlfriend’s email and copy pastes the pictures of her with all the different guys into an email.

“I assume your brother has an email?” Pidge asks.

“Oh… I see where you’re going with this!” Sky says mischievously. She gives Pidge the email and Pidge hits send.

“Let me know how it goes,” Pidge tells her as she closes out the glove.

“Pidge, you’re officially my hero,” Sky tells her.

Pidge grins sheepishly.

“That glove is awesome too,” Sky says. “Where’d you get it?”

“I built it,” Pidge boasts.

“Get out!”

For the rest of the night, Pidge shows off her glove to Sky until she leaves with her brother and his girlfriend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge and Sky Hang Out. Paladin shenanigans happen.

The following morning, Pidge and her friends go to a local diner for breakfast.

“Ugh! I just remembered I hate mornings….” Lance whines into his coffee from his spot at the far end of the bar they’re sitting at.

“Agreed…” Allura chimes in beside him.

“Last night was fun though, wasn’t it?” Hunk asks from Pidge’s right. “I know Shay had a good time.”

Pidge finishes her pancakes quietly from her spot between Shiro and Hunk.

“Speaking of last night; Pidge who was that girl you were talking to?” Shiro asks, looking down at her.

Pidge doesn’t know why she starts to blush, but she does.

“Er… no one,” Pidge stammers as her plate suddenly becomes very interesting. “Just someone I met on the pier.”

‘Why am I stammering?!’ she asks herself.

“Is that where you got that frog you came home with Tuesday night?” Keith asks from the other side of Shiro.

“Er…yeah I got it from one of the fairway games.”

‘Now why the hell am I so flustered?!’

“Are you blushing?” Hunk asks.

“No!” Pidge says defensively as she tries to rub the blush off of her face with little success.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

Pidge and her friends look up and there’s Sky walking over in a t-shirt and jeans with a skateboard under one arm.

“Hey!” Pidge says as she flashes Sky a crooked smile.

“Outsmart any rigged games or hack any phones this morning?” Sky teases.

Pidge genuinely laughs at that.

“Not yet but my day just started,” Pidge tells her.

“This sounds like an interesting story,” Hunk says with a raised eyebrow.

“Are these your friends?” Sky asks.

“Yep!” Pidge says before introducing everyone.

“Cool to meet you all,” Sky says amiably before turning her attention to Pidge. “Hey, you play?” she asks, indicating the retro Galaga arcade game to their left against the wall of the diner next to the jukebox.

Pidge raises an eyebrow at Sky as she puts her portion of the bill next to her plate and hops off of her stool.

~15 minutes later~

“I know you did not just beat my high score!” Sky tells Pidge.

“I did! I did just beat your high score!” Pidge responds with a smug look before the two burst into laughter.

“Girl, you are fun! There’s an arcade down the street if you’re interested,” Sky tells her. “Your friends are more than welcome to join but I’ll leave that up to you.”

“Please!” Pidge says, giving her friends the biggest doe eyed look she can muster.

Her friends look at each other with a raised eyebrow.

“Sure, why not,” Shiro says with a smile.

"YES!" Pidge shouts as they head out the door.

For the couple of hours, Pidge and Sky play some of the arcade games while Pidge’s friends play the arcade games. The arcade is mostly slow, given the early hour so they pretty much have it to themselves.

“Hey are those flight simulators?” Keith asks pointing to a pair of games in the corner.

Sky looks over.

“They sure are,” Sky tells them. “They race when the second one is working properly. Which it isn’t so, Pidge wanna have a go first?”

“Hey, you’re not half bad,” Sky tells Pidge as she flies for three levels. “Guess that’s what happens when you fly a giant lion.”

“Pretty much,” Pidge remarks.

“I didn’t realize Pidge told you that,” Allura says uneasy.

“She didn’t,” Sky insists. “I guessed. Wasn’t hard. Your faces were everywhere a few months back.”

“Your turn,” Pidge says to Sky when she finally crashes.

To their surprise, Sky makes it past the sixth level and keeps going.

“Wow, you’re a better flier than Keith,” Lance says smugly.

“Normally I’d tell you to go fuck yourself, but I have to agree,” Keith says.

“Have you considered enrolling in the Garrison?” Shiro asks sincerely.

Sky fake laughs.

“That’s funny,” Sky says.

“I’m serious, they could use good pilots,” Shiro says.

“Oh I know you were, and I’m sure they could but that doesn’t mean I’m interested,” Sky tells them.

“Why not?” Lance asks, sounding mildly offended.

“My dad flew for the Garrison for 30 years… 30 years… and my two middle brothers are both in the Garrison now,” Sky tells them.

“How many brothers do you have?” Pidge asks incredulously.

“Four,” Sky tells her with a smile. “You saw the youngest brother last night.”

“Holy shit!” Pidge exclaims.

“Right?! I’m the youngest,” Sky says.

“I’m guessing your dad taught you how to fly?” Keith asks.

“So what happened?” Lance asks genuinely.

“Dad was one of the fighter pilots Admiral Sanda sent out to attack when the Galra first arrived,” Sky admits flatly.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Allura says.

Sky crashes the simulator then.

“You shut the fuck up!” she states as she turns and points at Allura. “You guys have literally nothing to apologize for! You weren’t even here and when you got here, you got shit done! If anyone is to blame for Dad dying, it’s fucking Sanda! My second oldest brother was there when she gave the order! Commander Holt specifically told her not to use the regular fighters! He told her to use the MFEs, that regular fighters wouldn’t stand a chance, that they’d be killed, but she was too stuck on protocol, procedures, and the smell of her own farts to listen! I get she died a hero in the end, but that doesn’t magically make what she did OK!”

“She did come around in the end and I’m grateful she sacrificed herself for us,” Keith begins understandingly. “But that doesn’t change the fact that she put a lot of lives in danger, including our own, because she was too proud to take the word of an alien when Allura told her Sendak couldn’t be negotiated with.”

"Not to mention how much she and the other Garrison brass fought us when we were trying to liberate Earth," Shiro adds.

“So yeah, thanks for the compliment but I’ll stick to video games, skateboards, surfing, and painting,” Sky tells them as she stands up. “My family is all that matters and my poor mom’s been through enough.”

“I can definitely understand that,” Hunk admits.

“Speaking of brothers, what happened with your brother and Miss-Ho-bag?” Pidge asks.

“If I hear anything, you’ll be the first I tell,” Sky tells her with a grin.

“You mentioned that you surf,” Lance asks trying to change the subject. “Are you good?”

“I sure do and I sure am!” Sky boasts. “In fact, there’s a surf competition Friday. You guys should come hang out and watch me compete!” Then Sky snaps her fingers. “Speaking of hanging out, Pidge you interested in seeing more of the city?”

“Yeah!” Pidge says jumping to her feet.

“Pidge, we’re supposed to be meeting Shay soon,” Hunk points out.

“I’ll catch up with you guys later! I have my glove. Bye!” Pidge calls over her shoulder as she and Sky run out the door.

“She ditched us!” Lance says in disbelief. “I can’t believe she ditched us!”

“Should we not go after her?” Allura asks.

“Let her have her fun,” Keith says with a shrug.

“You can’t be serious?” Lance exclaims.

“Yeah, shouldn’t we be more concerned about this?” Hunk asks.

“Maybe you guys didn’t notice, but this is probably one of the few times I’ve seen Pidge hanging out with someone her own age,” Keith points out.

“Keith is right,” Shiro says. “Look guys, I understand your concerns, but we’re all legally considered adults. Hunk and Lance are 18, Keith’s 21, I’m 26, Allura’s... whatever age she is…”

“20 deca-phoebs,” Allura tells them. "Not counting the 10,000 years I was in the cryo-pod."

“Right, that,” Shiro continues. “Well, Pidge is 16. Usually she’s hanging out with us because we’re literally the first and only friends she’s ever had. But she’s still a kid and she deserves the chance to act like one now and then. We’re still Team Voltron if she hangs out with other people. Let her do her own thing.”

“I guess so,” Lance says.

“Come on, we’ll be late meeting with Shay,” Hunk says.

~

Hours later, Keith and the other Paladins are walking back to the rental house from hanging out with Shay when they hear Pidge and Sky laughing. They peek through a bush at the pair sitting at a picnic table on the beach with their backs to them.

“Are you serious?!” Sky laughs.

“Dude, I’ve got five witnesses who can verify this shit!” Pidge tells her, wiping tears from her eyes. “She played his ass like goddamn fiddle and then chained him to tree so they could steal the Blue Lion.”

“Oh my God! That is priceless!” Sky laughs. “I mean, poor Lance just wanted to kiss a pretty girl but still!”

“Yeah… poor Lance…” Lance mutters quietly before being shushed.

“And then Hunk… oh my god, Hunk!” Pidge giggles. “The entire time we’re getting our Lions he’s ranting about how he knew they couldn’t be trusted because mechanical jargon…”

“To be fair, I do the same shit to my brothers when something I tell them proves right and they didn’t wanna listen,” Sky points out merrily.

“And then Keith…” Pidge continues. “When we got the Blue Lion back and Lance was all “hey, come back and untie me!’ Keith goes… “What? I’m sorry, I can’t hear you… you’re breaking up…”

“The bad reception routine! Classic!!” Sky laughs as she claps her hands.

“God, I love those guys so much!” Pidge adds affectionately.

“I can tell,” Sky tells Pidge with a knowing smile. “They’re all you like to talk about it seems when you aren’t talking about computers and coding and your inventions.”

Pidge ducks her head and blushes. “Do I? Sorry…”

“No don’t be,” Sky tells her. “It's kinda cute.  You sound like me when I’m talking about the stupid shit my brothers do. You really care about them, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I love those guys. You know, it’s funny... I went into space looking for my dad and brother... but I came back with four additional brothers and a sister,” Pidge admits affectionately. “They can be annoying sometimes…  but I love 'em.”

“Aw!! That’s sweet…” Sky says tucking a strand of Pidge’s hair behind her ear.  Pidge blushes at the motion.  “You got any more great stories?” Sky asks.

“Oh I’ve got plenty!” Pidge tells her before thinking for a moment. “Oh! Wait til I tell you about the Voltron tour, including Voltron on Ice…”

“Oh my God! The name itself tells me so much!” Sky exclaims.

Shiro motions for the others to retreat back to the house.

“She loves us!” Hunk and Allura cry together.

“She called me her sister,” Allura adds.

“Did anyone else catch the way Pidge blushed just now,” Lance asks awkwardly. “You don’t think they’re… you know… sitting in a tree yet, right?”

“Why do you care?” Keith asks with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“I’m just… worried,” Lance says struggles to say. “I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“I think it’s sweet!” Allura gushes.

“Yeah, she picked up a girl faster than you Lance,” Hunk teases, earning him a glare.

“Look, Pidge obviously likes this girl and Sky clearly likes Pidge back,” Shiro tells them. “I think we should be supportive. Knowing Pidge, she probably needs it.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paladin bonding shenanigans.
> 
> I had the Mission Impossible theme in my head while writing this...

After several days of clear skies, Pidge awoke the following morning to the sound of thunder rolling and the patter of raindrops on the window of the room she shared with Shiro and Keith (because Allura wanted her own room and Pidge trusts Shiro and Keith to not draw on her face while she's sleeping). With the exception of Lance, who apparently had missed the rain enough to go out to dance in it, and Allura, who had never experienced an earth rainstorm before and wanted to join him, Pidge and her friends mostly hung out in the rental house all day.

Around 3 in the afternoon as the rain starts to let up, her friends are all scattered around the living area while Pidge is lounging on the couch with her laptop when the Star Trek theme starts playing in her pocket.

“Hello?” Pidge answers her cellphone.

“You would not believe the shit this bitch just pulled!” Sky states without so much of a hello.

“Oh! Oh! What’d she do?” Pidge asks eagerly as she moves her laptop off the couch so she can lay on her stomach.

“Ok, so my brother came to our rental home this morning. Apparently it went down between my brother and this bitch after he saw the pictures. Naturally he breaks up with her and leaves,” Sky begins.

“Good riddance!” Pidge says. “Your brother deserves better. So what’s the problem?”

“Well apparently, they were living together so she’s holding his shit hostage until he talks to her which of course he don’t wanna do,” Sky explains. “On top of that, apparently she’s been telling all of their friends HE’S the one whose been cheating on HER so now most of their friends are taking her side of shit.”

“What the actual QUIZNAK?!” Pidge asks in disbelief, ignoring the curious expressions on her friends’ faces.

“I know, right?!” Sky exclaims. “Ugh! I’ve got half a mind to pay her a visit to get my brother’s shit back and possibly give her a knuckle sandwich. My other brothers want to as well but Mama raised them better. She raised me better too but ya know…”

“You gotta do what you gotta do,” Pidge says understandingly. Pidge gets an idea. “Maybe there’s a way you can…” Pidge comments thoughtfully as she sits up and pulls her laptop back into her lap.

“Whatchu thinking in that pretty head of yours?” Sky asks Pidge. Pidge can practically hear her raise her eyebrow.

“I’ll tell you the details later. Real quick, what’s your brother’s address?” Pidge asks.

“Hell if I know,” Sky answers. “The apartment is under her name though. Jessica Worthington.”

Pidge types in the name.

“I’ve got work to do. How soon can you be free?” Pidge asks.

“Probably not until after dinner,” Sky says.

“Alright, I’ll call you later with details and a general plan,” Pidge tells her before hanging up and immediately getting to work.

“What’s going on?” Lance asks as he moves closer to the couch.

“And… why do you have that look you get when you’re about to get into mischief?” Hunk asks.

“If anyone asks, you won’t be lying when you say you don’t know,” Pidge tells them simply as she also opens up her connection on her glove.

“Why are you hacking into security cameras for an entire stretch of the town?” Lance asks.

“And why are you hacking the Garrison security feed and controls for the Lion hanger?” Hunk asks.

“What did I just say?” Pidge tells them.

“Come on, Pidge you have to give us something to go on,” Shiro asks. “Maybe we can help.”

“Or at the very least, cover for you,” Keith says.

Pidge looks at them and sighs.

“Fine… Sky’s brother was dating a bitch who Sky and I caught cheating on him,” Pidge explains. “We exposed her to Sky’s brother and of course he left her. Now she’s playing the victim and running him through the dirt while simultaneously holding her brother’s stuff hostage until he talks to her. Sky wants to get her brother’s stuff and possibly give her a shovel talk and I figured it’d be more… persuasive… with a giant metal Lion backing us up than it would be just us.”

“So you’re hacking the street cameras so they won’t see the Green Lion?” Lance asks.

“Green Lion can still cloak, Lance,” Pidge reminds him. “No, I’m hacking the cameras so I can block their signal if I need to.”

“And you’re hacking into the Garrison Lion hanger to open the door?” Allura guesses.

“And loop the security feed while the Lion’s gone so it looks like the Green lion never left,” Pidge adds.

“Er… not to state the obvious but… isn’t this all very illegal?” Hunk asks.

Pidge stops typing and just stares at him.

“I illegally enrolled in an elite space military school under an illegally acquired false name, complete with a forged medical record, ID, and birth certificate after I got banned from the premises for hacking into their computers to read classified files on the Kerberos mission so I could find out what ACTUALLY happened to my dad and brother after not buying the whole “Pilot Error” bullshit they tried to sell us,” Pidge points out to him. “Hacking security systems and hanger doors doesn’t even make the top five list of illegal shit I’ve done.”

“She’s got a point…” Keith says with a grin.

“Still, I think I can help make one of those things not so illegal,” Shiro says. “I think your brother is on security for the hanger tonight. Knowing him, he’d probably help us if we asked.”

“And if you’re trying to get in and out of an apartment unseen, Kosmo can help,” Keith says motioning to the giant blue wolf beside him.

“That’s true too,” Pidge says. “Ok. Now I just need to find a way to get this chick out of the apartment…hmm…” Pidge thinks for a moment. “I still have her phone in my glove… let me see if she has a schedule on it.” Pidge brings up the phone’s calendar on her holo-glove. Nothing. “Hmm… maybe her social media…”

Immediately Pidge sees an event.

_**“Beach party under the pier!** _

_**9pm-1am** _

_**Post break-up night out.”** _

“Oh! We may not need to break and enter after all!” Pidge exclaims. “This event is for tonight!”

“Ok so she and her brother could probably just walk in and out through the front door,” Keith states.

“Hmm… We’ll need look outs to keep an eye out for her…” Pidge states thoughtfully as she laces her fingers in front of her mouth. “And someone to keep an eye on her at the party to give us a warning if she leaves early or something.” Pidge then points at Lance and Allura. “You two are going on a date tonight.”

“Ohh! Sounds exciting!” Allura says, catching on quick.

“What! Why us?” Lance asks.

“Because we need someone who can blend in at that party. Shiro sticks out like a sore thumb with his floating arm of glowiness, Keith has a giant blue wolf following him around, and Hunk is well… Hunk. You two are the closest thing to “blending in” that this merry band of misfits will ever get.”

“She has a point,” Shiro says with a laugh.

“Besides, it’ll be fun!” Allura says.

“That leaves Shiro and Keith on look out,” Pidge says. “I’ll call Sky to let her know the plan.”

“Are we still using Green?” Shiro asks.

“Yep…” Pidge says. “I’ll be in Green keeping a look out from above while Sky and her brother get in and grab his stuff. Hunk, you’re with me. Just have Matt leave the hanger door for the Green Lion open. Say she wants to look at the stars or something.”

Pidge calls Sky and tells her the plan and Sky tells her brother. Pidge helps Allura hide her ears under her hair so she won’t draw attention and puts glitter on her cheek marks so they look artificial. They decide to use their personal coms to communicate. Sky and her brother drop by briefly for a little bit to pick one up.

“Man, this is some mission impossible type shit right here,” Sky says as she puts the ear piece in her ear.

“We’ll head over there now. Walking, we should get there on time,” Sky’s brother Marcus says. “Thanks again for doing this.”

At 8 pm, Allura and Lance head for the pier while Pidge, Shiro, Keith, Kosmo, and Hunk go out onto a dark, unlit stretch of beach. After confirmation that the door is open, Pidge calls the Green Lion to her, initiating Green’s cloak while she’s flying and turning it off right before she lands.

“Hey Girl, I need your help with a small problem,” Pidge tells the Green Lion as she and her friends quickly run inside. She can feel the Green Lion purr in her mind as she initiates cloak and sits in the pilot seat to take off.

“Ok, when we get there, Kosmo can move you to the ground so I don’t have to turn off the cloak,” Pidge tells them as she brings up a 3D map of the area with her glove. “Get in position and keep an eye out.”

By 10:30, everyone is in position and ready.

“Now we wait…” Pidge says as hacks the security cameras for the streets around them on her glove and waits.

“Hang on, we have a visual,” Allura says. “She just arrived with some friends.”

“Had a feeling she’d be fashionably late,” Pidge remarks. “Sky, you guys are clear to enter, just keep an eye on the time.”

“We will,” Sky assures. 5 minutes later. “Ok, we’re in.”

“Hunk, use my laptop to monitor the streets while I keep an eye on the time,” Pidge tells him as she hands him her laptop. “Break it, you buy it.”

“Ok, you are WAY too good at this,” Hunk states with a nervous chuckle as he takes the laptop. “And dare I say, you are enjoying this WAY. TOO. MUCH.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of unnerved too,” Lance pipes in over the coms.

“Not me, I’m impressed,” Keith admits. “I would have loved to have you on some of my Blade missions.”

“I successfully masqueraded under a false identity for months with the intent to not get caught before I learned what really happened to the Kerberos mission,” Pidge tells them frankly. “You can’t do that if you’re stupid. Thankfully, I’m not.”

“I’m just glad you’re on our side,” Shiro remarks with a chuckle. “Can you imagine if Pidge were an evil genius?”

“I was one for Halloween one year,” Pidge states offhandedly.

“It is good to see your genius turned toward a noble purpose,” Allura chimes in.

“The term you fuckers are looking for is chaotic good,” Sky tells them, getting a laugh out of everyone.

An hour and a half later, Sky and her brother are almost done when Lance and Allura lose sight of Jessica.

“She’s not in the ladies room,” Allura confirms.

“We think she left,” Lance tells her.

“Sky, you two need to get out of there,” Pidge says.

“We’re heading out now,” Sky says. “We got everything that matters.”

As soon as they’re out, Pidge calls Lance and Allura back to the rendezvous point on the beach and has Keith and Kosmo teleport to Shiro’s alley so she can pick up them up. Pidge scrambles the cameras before landing.

“Um… Pidge there’s an issue,” Hunk says as he points to an alley after they’ve taken off again. Pidge looks quickly and sees Sky and her brother standing in an alley with the ex-girlfriend.

“You have a lot of nerve breaking and entering into my apartment to steal my belongings,” Pidge can hear Jessica say.

“It’s his shit you dumb bitch!” Sky yells back. “We just came to get it.”

“Baby, just talk to me,” Jessica tells Marcus in a sickeningly sweet tone. “I can explain everything if you’d just talk to me.”

“Why? So you can spout more convenient lies?” Marcus asks her. “In the time I’ve been away from you, you’ve done nothing but manipulate and scheme and lie. And in the same amount of time, I’ve learned how you’ve been treating my sister since we got together. We don’t work, Jessica. I just want to take my things and leave.”

Pidge notices that the alley is just wide enough for the Green Lion to fit behind Sky and her brother.

“And what’s stopping me from calling the police on you?” Jessica asks.

“Me,” Sky growls.

“You and what army?” Jessica asks.

“Fuck it…” Pidge mutters as she jumps out of her seat while the Green Lion maneuvers herself behind Sky and her brother. Pidge quickly scrambles the camera in the alley as she heads down into the jaw. “Hunk! Deactivate the cloak!”

“On it!”

Suddenly, the Green Lion comes into full view behind Sky and her brother with Pidge standing in her opened jaw.

“This army!” Pidge states.

“Meet my new best friend,” Sky tells Jessica as she and her brother climb into the Green Lion, leaving behind a stunned Jessica.

“Now unless you want to suddenly find yourself on Venus with no space suit, I suggest you let the matter drop!” Pidge declares before running back inside the lion as the jaw closes. She re-initiates the cloak and takes off back to the rendezvous point.

~

“Gotta admit, that was fun,” Keith states as they gather around the Green Lion after it lets them all off.

“So, this is the Green Lion?” Sky asks as she stares up at said Lion.

“Yep, this is her,” Pidge tells her. “We’ve been through a lot, her and me.”

Sky hesitates. “Can I… pet her?”

“Dunno,” Pidge says before looking up at Green. “Can she?”

Green leans down to let Sky pet the front of her jaw.

“She’s sentient!?” Sky asks as she pets her.

“That she is,” Pidge states before turning back to the Green Lion.  “Ok girl, back to base. I’ll see you again in two days.”

The Green Lion heads back toward the hanger, cloaking after taking off.

“We’d better get you home, Sky,” Marcus says. “Don’t you have a surf competition in the morning?”

“Shit, that’s right,” Sky swears. Then she turns to Pidge. “Thanks again for the help.”

“No problem,” Pidge tells her.

“Here, for your trouble,” Sky smiles and steps into Pidge’s space before planting a kiss on Pidge’s cheek.  Pidge immediately blushes.  “See you tomorrow, Pidge,” Sky adds as they leave.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge and Sky go on a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Paladin bonding! Shiro and Pidge's bromance gives me life.

The following morning, Pidge and her friends all stand on the beach to watch Sky compete in the surf competition. She does pretty well, coming in close second.

“Pidge, you came to watch!” Sky exclaims as she runs over to hug Pidge with her second place metal hanging from her neck.

“Wouldn’t miss it!” Pidge tells her.

“Margaret Mary,” says a short Hispanic lady with large hoops in her ears as she approaches them. “Oh, hello! You must be Pidge,” she says, flashing Pidge a genuine smile.

“Yes ma’am!” Pidge says as she shakes Sky’s mom’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Sky’s mom says before turning to Sky. “Mija, we have to go. You need to change.”

“Give me a second mom,” Sky tells her. She turns back to Pidge after her mom leaves. “Sorry, I have to head home soon, but listen. There’s a kind of end-of-summer beach party tonight and I wanted to know if you wanted to go with me.”

Pidge blinks.

“‘With you’? Wait, you mean like a date? Like, a _date_ date?” Pidge asks. “Like, a _date_ date **date**?”

She starts to blush as she sees Allura and Hunk both face palm and Shiro and Keith hide smiles while Sky laughs. Lance just gawks.

“Yes, a date. With two people and dancing and probably food,” Sky tells her in amusement.

“S…sure… I mean yes… I mean what time?” Pidge stammers. (Now Shiro and Keith are facepalming. Lance is still gawking.)

“7:30,” Sky tells her with a laugh as she walks away. “God, just when I thought you couldn’t get cuter.”

~

“I can’t believe I’m doing this… what do I wear… what do I do… what do I say?!” Pidge frets pacing back and forth in front of her bed when they get back to the rental house.

“And I thought I was bad at this,” Shiro says in amusement from his spot on the other bed in the room as he watches her pace.

“It’s not funny…” Pidge states blushing furiously, tears in her eyes. “I’ve literally never had anyone actually like me enough to ask me out; let alone been on a date with someone.”

Shiro looks at her sympathetically.

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he tells her.

“Isn’t it?” Pidge asks. “I can hack into any computer system in the known universe, mouth off to Sendak, invent a holographic glove with a communications app, but I don’t know what to do on a date!”

“Hey…” Shiro catches her for a moment. “Breathe, Pidge.”

Pidge takes a deep breath.

“If I asked you what you like about Sky, what would you tell me?” Shiro asks.

Pidge thinks for a moment.

“Well she’s confident…,” she says. “Funny… she knows who she is and doesn’t care what people think of her… I have fun with her.”

“If she asked you out, she probably thinks something similar about you,” Shiro tells her. “If it helps, just treat it like you’re hanging out.”

“Ok… I think I can do that,” Pidge says with another deep breath. She gives Shiro a hug. “Thanks Shiro.”

“Any time,” Shiro says as he hugs her back. “Now let’s get you ready for that date.”  Pidge raises an eyebrow at him. “What? You didn’t think we wouldn’t help you get ready, did you?”

~

Hours later, Pidge looks at herself in the mirror. She’s wearing a pretty green shirt with the sleeves cut off, a knee length prairie skirt made of blue, green, and pink flowered fabrics and a green headband in her hair.

“Not bad,” she comments.

“Oh, Pidge you looks so pretty!” Allura exclaims.

“You’re still wearing your glove,” Lance asks making a face.

“As a matter of fact, I am Lance,” Pidge tells him as she puts her shoes on.

“Won’t that take away from your outfit?” Lance asks.

“Asking me to not wear my glove is like asking Keith not to bring his knife everywhere,” Pidge tells him. “A waste of time and breath.” The doorbell rings then. “That’ll be Sky.”

“You’re going to dinner now right?” Hunk asks. “Then the beach party.”

“That’s the plan,” Pidge tells him as she walks by him to opens the door.

“Hey Pi… whoa…” Sky trails off with a whistle when she looks at Pidge. “Damn you look pretty tonight.”

“You’re not bad looking yourself,” Pidge tells Sky with a blush, indicating her black tank top, blue jeans, and sneakers. For once, Sky isn’t wearing her hat over her long black hair. There’s a gold armband on her left arm and big gold hoops in her ears.

“Have fun,” Shiro tells her. “We’ll see you at the beach party later.”

Pidge and Sky walk to a little diner for dinner. Pidge gets chicken tenders and cheese fries, Sky gets a corndog and onion rings.

“Oh fried food, how I’ve missed you!” Pidge says as they eat.

“They don’t have fried shit in space?” Sky asks Pidge.

“Maybe now we will since we have the Atlas,” Pidge says. “But no, most of the food I’ve eaten the past few years has been either green food goo or stuff from other planets none of us recognize except maybe Allura and Coran. Thankfully, Hunk’s an awesome cook. That green food goo we sometimes ate was disgusting!”

“See, shit like that is why I’m glad I’m a surfer,” Sky tells her. “I like my onion rings.”

They eat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

“Ugh! I don’t want to go back to school,” Sky admits.

“Wait, schools are back in session already?” Pidge asks.

“I think most places want to get us back to some semblance of normalcy or some shit so yeah, schools are back in next week,” Sky says. “Though, we’re only going in either the morning or afternoon to make the classrooms smaller.”

“I wouldn’t be going back to school, even if I didn’t have to be the Green Paladin,” Pidge tells her. “I hated high school.”

“I hear that,” Sky says as they clink their milkshakes in agreement.

They finish their food and pay before heading over to the beach party. On the way there, they stop at a Photomaton and stop to take a few pictures.

“Hey, looks like your friends beat us here,” Sky says pointing out the other Paladins on the dance floor with Kosmo staying loyally by Keith’s side. “Shall we join em?” Sky asks Pidge offering her arm.

“Just so you know, I suck at dancing,” Pidge tells her as she takes Sky’s arm.

“Bitch, me too,” Sky tells her. “My graceful moves are limited to surfing and skateboarding only. We’ll suck at dancing together.”

Pidge’s friends all greet them as they join them on the dance floor. True to form, they're both terrible dancers but after a few songs neither of them cared. Before long the two were singing along and dancing without a care. Every few songs they play some slow songs. Pidge smiles as she lays her head on Sky’s shoulder while they dance. She can feel her friends watching them but she can’t bring herself to care.

“I love you, Pidge…” Sky tells her during the seventh or eighth slow song.

Pidge looks up at Sky and they both dissolve into laughter.

“No you don’t, we literally just met four days ago,” Pidge tells her with a laugh.

“You’re right, I don’t,” Sky laughs back. “And after tonight, we’re both going back to our lives. This is just what they call a “spring break” romance. No strings attached just two people enjoying life in these troubled times while they can. Besides, I know you hold a candle for tall and lanky over there.”

“Still, it’d be nice if we could talk now and then,” Pidge says. “Especially when I’m seventh wheeling.”

Sky smiles down at her. “I’d like that,” Sky says.

“Me too,” Pidge tells her.

Sky laughs.

“You said that, you nerd,” Sky teases.

“Oh, shut up! You knew what I meant,” Pidge laughs back.

They dance in comfortable silence as Pidge returns her head to Sky’s shoulder.

“Can I kiss you?” Sky asks a while later.

Pidge blushes.

“If you’d like.”

Pidge feels Sky’s knuckle under her chin. She lifts her head just enough and feels Sky’s lips brush against her own. It wasn’t a very long first kiss; very soft and tender. They pull away for a moment before going in again.

“Yes…” Shiro whispers to Keith as he gives a small fist pump when he sees Pidge and Sky kissing. Keith looks over.

“Damn, Pidge has some moves,” Keith whistles.

“Get it, Pidge!” Hunk mutters with a grin.

“They look cute, do they not Lance?” Allura asks.

“Yeah… I gotta admit it, but they do,” Lance says.

Hours later, they’re all sitting around a bonfire roasting marshmallows.

“I’ll be real,” Sky tells her out of the blue as she looked at the pictures from the Photomaton. “If I wanted to I could became the most popular kid in school by just showing them this picture we took earlier.”

“You’re not?” Pidge asks genuinely as she eats her eighth s’more.

“What, tell people I went on a date with the Green Paladin?” Sky asks with a wry smile. “Nah, let that shit be mine.”

Before Pidge can respond, her glove gives off an alert grabbing the attention of Pidge and her friends. She checks and sees she has a call coming in. She frowns and shoots her friends a look as she gets up and walks away from the bonfire to answer.

When she’s far enough for privacy and her friends are around her, she answers to see a projection of her mom in the palm of her hand.

“Mom?”

“Katie honey, I’m sorry to interrupt your vacation, but we need you and the other Paladins to come back early,” Mrs. Holt tells her. “As in tonight.”

Pidge’s shoulders sag.

“But I was on a date…Like an actual date with an actual live person,” Pidge whines before she can stop herself. “It can’t wait until morning?”

“Would I have called you on your glove if it could?” her mom asks her plainly.

“No…” Pidge admits begrudgingly.

“I’m sorry honey, but your father found something he said he needs to show Allura and Shiro immediately,” Mrs. Holt tells her. “It can’t wait.”

All six of them look at each other as Mrs. Holt speaks. Pidge looks over at Sky standing not far off and shoots her an apologetic look. Sky shoots her an understanding smile and a nod.

“Alright, we’re heading out,” Pidge says glumly.

“And tell me how your date went when you get back!” her mom says before closing out the connection.

“The one time I get a date!” Pidge pouts.

Shiro puts a hand on her shoulder.

“We’ll give you a minute, Pidge,” Shiro tells her understandingly as the others move out of range.

Pidge shoots Shiro an appreciative look. “Thanks Shiro.”

Pidge turns back to Sky.

“Lemme guess, duty calls?” Sky asks.

“I’m sorry Sky,” Pidge begins.

“The fuck are you sorry for?!” Sky asks indignantly. “I knew going in you were the Green Paladin. My dad was a fighter pilot remember? I get it.”

“Thanks for making this week not lame,” Pidge tells her.

“Thanks for helping me with my brother,” Sky says back as she pulls Pidge into a hug. She gives Pidge a light punch in the arm when they pull away.

Pidge shoots Sky a smile as she walks off to join her friends.

**Author's Note:**

> I have this headcanon that Pidge is bi like me. This was originally going to be a one shot, but then I saw it was six pages long… Inspired by Anything But Mine by Kenny Chesney.
> 
> Pidge's glove is an invention of hers I created that works like a cross between Shuri's beads in Black Panther and the computer in the bracer of Pidge's Paladin armor.


End file.
